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Stanford (5-3) vs. Washington (6-3) Game Preview

One Reason Why Stanford Will Win

The Washington offense just doesn’t like to score.

The Huskies have had a hard time all season long coming up with big offensive production – with just two games this year against FBS teams with more than 27 points – and that’s just the way Stanford likes it.

The Cardinal love to muck it up, keep games low scoring and close, and then find a way to come up with a big drive at the right time to pull it out. Granted, that’s more out of necessity since the Cardinal O isn’t playing well, either, but this is the right type of team for Stanford to face.

On the other side of the ball, Washington’s defense isn’t generating nearly enough pressure.

The D has been great overall, and the results aren’t there, but the pressure on the quarterback isn’t. Give KJ Costello time, and he’s great.

With no ground game to help, Costello has been razor-sharp over the last two weeks, completing 56-of-72 passes – hitting 78% of his throws – and with close to 1,000 yards over the last three games.

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One Reason Why Washington Will Win

There’s really, really no Stanford running game.

The O line has been a big disappointment, Bryce Love just isn’t healthy, and there’s nothing there to rely on for a ground attack that has yet to hit the 160-yard mark, and averaging just 3.3 yards per carry on the year.

Washington is fantastic at stuffing one-dimensional teams without a whole lot of offensive pop.

Offensively, for all of the issues, and all of the concerns, and despite the benching of Jake Browning – he’s back in his starting quarterback role – Washington is still leading the Pac-12 in third down conversions and it’s still leading the conference in yards per completion.

It’s not consistent enough, and there aren’t enough good scoring drives, but there are parts that work.

Washington’s offense has issues. Stanford’s offense just isn’t very good.